Just Fate

by Barbara Cartland

  Because he thought that he had been remiss in the past, he had made an effort to come to The Castle and hold a party there.

  Although he tried not to admit it, he felt as if the ghosts that had haunted him as a child were still with him and, wherever he went and whatever he did, he was aware of them.

  He appreciated that in his absence his Manager had kept up the garden in the same way that he had kept up the estate.

  But he knew, beautiful though this one was, his garden in Devonshire was far more attractive. It owed its beauty not to the generations before him, but to himself.

  As he kissed Elizabeth, he felt that he was kissing the flowers, especially the orchids that meant so much to both of them.

  He knew that he would make the future for her as beautiful as the orchids were.

  The Duke raised his head and from the expression on Elizabeth’s face he knew that his kiss had meant as much to her as it had to him.

  “I love you!” he said in a deep voice. “I love you so much that if you send me away I have no wish to go on living without you.”

  “Oh – no, you must – not talk like – that!” Elizabeth cried. “I love you – I love you with – all my heart. I – I thought I could never feel like this again – but darling – there is still – Lais to think about – and I am her mother!”

  “If there were a thousand Laises, I would still make you marry me!” the Duke affirmed. “But I would not have you upset! I am going to look after and protect you for as long as we both shall live. And I now promise you that Lais will not be unhappy.”

  “But – she will!” Elizabeth said weakly. “And she will – never forgive me.”

  She could not help remembering that in fact she had not seen Lais since her marriage to Lord Barnham.

  At the same time she thought that it would be disloyal to tell the Duke how she had cut herself off from her family.

  “What you are going to do,” the Duke said quietly, “is to leave here early tomorrow morning before Lais is awake.”

  “L-leave?” Elizabeth hesitated.

  This was something that she had not expected him to say.

  “I intend to make sure that she does not upset you, so it is best, my precious one, if you are not in The Castle.”

  Elizabeth hid her face against his shoulder.

  “I-I don’t – want to – leave you – ”

  “It is only for a very short time,” he said, “We are going to be married at once and then I am going to take you to Devonshire.”

  Elizabeth drew in her breath.

  “Is that possible – is it really – possible?”

  “I will make it possible,” the Duke answered. “After that I will never allow you to worry about anything again.”

  Elizabeth seemed to melt against him and he kissed her forehead before he said,

  “I find your tiara gets in my way and if it stops me from kissing you I shall never let you wear one again!”

  Elizabeth laughed.

  “I would far rather wear your orchids in my hair.”

  “That is what you shall do,” the Duke said. “I shall grow the most beautiful and perfect orchids, which I will collect from every part of the world, just so that you may wear them like jewels.”

  Elizabeth gave a deep sigh.

  “It sounds so wonderful, so perfect – but, oh , William – I am – frightened!”

  “I will not allow you to be frightened by anybody or anything,” the Duke said. “Just do as I ask and leave everything in my hands.”

  “You know I – will,”

  Then she gave a sudden exclamation.

  “What is it?” the Duke asked.

  “I-I forgot – I forgot to tell you that I – deceived you when I – came here.”

  “You deceived me?” the Duke asked incredulously. “How?”

  “You thought I was – bringing a – companion with me, but she – is in fact – my younger daughter – Philomena!”

  The Duke laughed.

  “I had a slight suspicion that there was something rather strange about your ‘companion’!”

  “Why should you have – thought that?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Because my valet told me that she was very beautiful, in fact almost as beautiful as you!”

  Elizabeth smiled.

  “She is far more beautiful than I am – but she is only eighteen – and I could not – leave her behind.”

  “We will have to find a husband for her,” the Duke said, “and, of course, darling, she can come with us to Devonshire, as long as I can have you to myself and alone for just a few weeks after we are married.”

  “I promise you Philomena will be no trouble.”

  Elizabeth gave a little sigh.

  “I have, however, no wish to impose upon you. And you do realise that we are – very poor?”

  “Well, I am very rich,” the Duke replied, “so there is no need for you to worry about that!”

  Elizabeth again put her head on his shoulder.

  “Is it – really true that I can – marry you?” she asked. “I never thought of – such a thing. I just knew that you were the most – charming and delightful man I had ever met – and it would be – wonderful to have you as a – son-in-law.”

  “I have no wish to be a son-in-law or anything except your husband,” the Duke laughed, “and that is what I intend to become.”

  He put his fingers under her chin and turned her face up to his.

  “I love you!” he sighed, “I love you and it is going to take me a lifetime to tell you how much.”

  He kissed her until they were both breathless.

  Then he said,

  “It is getting late and, as I want you to leave early, my darling, I think that you should now go to bed.”

  “I will do as you tell me,” Elizabeth said, “and I will dream of you, although I am afraid that in the morning you will have – disappeared!”

  “I will never,” the Duke smiled. “And I am only sending you away, my precious, just in case anything upsets you. As soon as everybody has gone on Monday morning, I will come to you.”

  “Promise you will – not forget?” Elizabeth whispered.

  He laughed tenderly.

  “Could it be possible I would forget you?” he asked. “And I would like to think that it would be impossible for you to forget me.”

  “It would – it would!” Elizabeth replied with a touch of passion in her voice.

  Then he was kissing her again.

  As he did so, the Duke was thanking God that for the first time in his life he had found the woman who was the counterpart of himself.

  He had waited for her for a long time and it would make their happiness more intense and more perfect because they would be so grateful for it.

  *

  Mena was not asleep when she heard the bedroom door open.

  She had found it impossible to relax and she had been wondering desperately what was happening in the stable yard.

  She was praying that Lindon would not be hurt.

  She had read stories in the newspapers of armed robberies taking place in London and she remembered that many of them they had been crimes of violence during which policemen or one or more of the robbers had been killed.

  She was afraid that the same violence might occur here.

  When the thieves raided the stables to steal Conqueror, Lindon would take steps to prevent them from taking him away and there could be shots fired from both sides.

  ‘Please, God, protect him – please – don’t let him be – injured.”

  She prayed the words over and over again.

  She felt as if her prayers flew on wings to make a strong shield of protection around Lindon.

  When the door opened, Mena felt as if she was far away and had to come back from a long distance.

  Slowly she rose to her feet.

  Then she was aware that her mother was standing just inside the room.

  She looked so different from ho
w she had before that Mena could only stare at her in astonishment.

  Now she was standing quite still with her hands clasped together.

  There was a look on her face that made Mena feel that something strange and wonderful had taken place.

  When her mother did not speak, she asked,

  “What is it, Mama? Why do you look like that?”

  “I am so happy, Mena!” her mother replied. “So very happy – I cannot believe it is – true!”

  Mena walked towards her mother.

  “What has happened?” she enquired.

  Mrs. Mansforde drew a deep breath as if it was difficult to speak before she said,

  “Oh, Mena! The Duke has asked me to – marry him – and I am going to be – his wife!”

  Mena could only gasp.

  “You are going to marry the Duke? But – I thought – ”

  “He loves me!” her mother interrupted. “He had been determined never to marry again – but from the moment I arrived here he knew that he was in love! Oh, Mena! Mena! How can this have happened to me?”

  Mena put her arms round her mother and kissed her.

  “If the Duke will make you happy, Mama, as you used to be, then it is the most marvellous thing that could ever happen!”

  “Do you mean that?” Mrs. Mansforde asked. “Oh, dearest, I would not do – anything to – hurt you or Lais – but William said that he had no intention of marrying her or anybody else.”

  “If he loves you and you love him, then, of course, you must marry him,” Mena said.

  As she spoke, however, she was thinking of how furious Lais would be. There would be no doubt about that after what she had said this afternoon.

  She only hoped that she would not have the disagreeable task of telling her sister what had occurred.

  Mrs. Mansforde sat down on the stool in front of the dressing table and Mena began to take off her tiara.

  There was silence until her mother said as if she had just thought of it,

  “William says that we are to leave first thing tomorrow morning before Lais is called.”

  “L–leave?” Mena questioned, “Oh, but why, Mama?”

  “Because, dearest, he says that he will not have me upset. He is going to talk to Lais and make sure that she is not angry with me.”

  Mena thought that would be impossible, but she only said,

  “I – understand. At what – time do we have to leave?”

  “The carriage will be waiting for us at half-past eight,” her mother replied. “Our packing has all been arranged and we will have breakfast in our rooms so all we have to do is to drive away without being observed.”

  Mena felt as if there was a stone in her breast and it was so heavy that she could hardly bear the pain of it.

  She knew that once she had left The Castle it was unlikely that she would ever see Lindon again.

  How was it possible for her to explain everything to him in a letter?

  It was then she realised that she did not even know his last name.

  She thought perhaps she could write to him or send a message to the Elizabethan house where they had dined that evening.

  But he had not mentioned its name and she had not asked him what it was called. She had also been very careful not to seem curious about his surname in case he asked her for hers.

  After he had said he had read her father’s articles and knew who he was, she thought that she had been very stupid.

  How could she have chosen the name ‘Ford’ for herself.

  It would be all too likely for Lindon to suspect that, if she was not Mr. Mansforde’s daughter, she was some relation.

  ‘I should have ignored Mama’s protestations,’ she thought, ‘and called myself ‘Johnson’ as I had first intended.’

  It was too late now for regrets.

  But it meant that she now had no way of communicating with Lindon or he with her.

  As she helped her mother undress, she seemed to be in a haze of happiness.

  To Mena, however, it was the end of a dream, and now she had to wake up.

  It had been a dream meeting Lindon and riding the horses with him and a more wonderful dream having dinner with him in his tiny Elizabethan house.

  Then he had kissed her.

  She had only to think of him to feel the pressure of his lips on hers.

  Once again that strange inexpressible ecstasy was rising within her.

  Now she had to go away and she knew that it was something she would never experience again in the future.

  She helped her mother into bed and kissed her goodnight.

  She was aware as she did so that her mother was immersed in her own happiness and she would not notice anything else that was happening.

  Mena went to the door.

  “Goodnight, Mama,” she called back as she reached it.

  There was a pause, as if Mrs. Mansforde had to force herself to realise what was being said to her.

  Then she answered,

  “Are you leaving? Goodnight, then, dearest! And thank you for understanding how happy I am.”

  Mena went to her own room.

  When she reached it, she ran in, closed the door and threw herself down on the bed.

  Then the tears came, hot, burning, agonising tears.

  She had found love and lost it.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Lais finished her dance with the Earl of Elderfield.

  He took her by the arm and they walked out of the ballroom window into the garden.

  The night was filled with stars and there was a pale moon rising over the trees.

  It was very romantic.

  They moved over the smooth lawn until they were out of sight of The Castle.

  And then the Earl said in a deep voice,

  “You are looking very beautiful this evening, Lais, and I noticed that all the other men told you as well!”

  There was a note of jealousy in his voice that made her smile.

  But she merely answered,

  “I enjoy being here and The Castle is magnificent!”

  “I have asked you to come and see my house,” the Earl said. “It is not as old as this, but it was built by the Adam brothers and you would look perfect in the huge dining room and even more marvellous in the ballroom.”

  “I am far too busy at the moment to go anywhere,” Lais replied complacently.

  “But you came here!” the Earl argued.

  “Of course,” Lais replied.

  There was silence until he asked,

  “Are you going to marry Kernthorpe?”

  Lais looked coyly away from him.

  “That is not the sort of question you should ask, my Lord.”

  “Answer me!” the Earl said fiercely. “I want to know the truth!”

  “Then you will have to wait and see,” Lais answered.

  Except for the sound of water falling from the fountain there was complete silence.

  Then the Earl said in an almost despairing tone,

  “You know I love you, Lais! And I could make you very happy.”

  “How can you be sure of that?” Lais enquired.

  “Because I am quite certain that I could make you love me,” he said. “There are so many things we can do together and I want you! I want you unbearably.”

  He spoke with a harsh note in his voice.

  But she merely gave a little shrug of her shoulders and turned away from him.

  He reached out his hands and gripped her shoulders.

  “Listen,” he asserted, “I love you! For God’s sake marry me and give up pursuing a man who is determined never to be married.”

  Lais stiffened.

  “How dare you speak to me like that!” she exclaimed angrily.

  “Admit the truth for once,” the Earl insisted. “Kernthorpe is too old for you, much too old. Just because you think you want to be a Duchess, you are hanging round him like a lovesick teenager.”

  Lais straggled to free herself.

&nb
sp; “You have no right to speak to me like that!” she cried. “I hate you!”

  “If that is the truth,” the Earl said, “then I will give you something to hate me for!”

  He pulled her roughly into his arms.

  Before she could protest or make any effort to hold him off his lips took possession of hers.

  He kissed her fiercely, angrily and brutally.

  It was impossible for her to move and difficult for her to breathe.

  He went on kissing her until despite herself she was limp in his arms.

  It was then his lips became a little gentler and he kissed her as if he wooed her.

  Unexpectedly, so that she gave a little cry, he set her free, pushing her away from him.

  “Damn you!” he swore. “You are enough to try the patience of a Saint.”

  As he spoke, he turned and walked quickly away from her and disappeared into the darkness.

  Lais stood where he had left her.

  Her hands went up to her breast and she was aware that her heart was beating tumultuously.

  ‘How dare he – behave like that!’ she murmured to herself.

  Then, despite herself, she realised that it had been exciting.

  She went back into the ballroom, but there was no sign of the Earl nor of the Duke.

  Some of the guests were already leaving and a number of the older women who were staying in The Castle were looking tired.

  Because Lais was alone she saw a young man whom she disliked coming towards her and turned away.

  She left the ballroom and walked along the corridor towards the hall.

  She half-expected the Duke to emerge from one of the rooms.

  If he did so, she was ready to cry on his shoulder and tell him that she had been insulted.

  She felt then that it would be difficult for him not to put his arms around her and tell her that he would protect her.

  And what could his words be, after that, but a proposal of marriage?

  There was, however, no sign of him.

  She walked slowly up the stairs wanting to go to bed, yet at the same time, if she could find an excuse for it, she wanted to stay downstairs.

  As she reached the top of the staircase, several people came from the drawing room who were obviously leaving.

  While the men asked for their carriages a lady, whose name Lais could not remember, said,